Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised by Knowing. I only bought it because it turned out the cheapest way to get both Moon and District 9 was in a triple pack with this film. While it's not as thorough as either of those films, it does have an interesting premise. Granted, it quickly takes that premise in a dumb direction, but I enjoyed Cage's performance in it, and as you note, the bombast with which it draws out its stupid conclusion is rather enjoyable. Definitely worth the entrance fee.

For all that it's a great film I'm not really sure that anyone outside Scotland will be able to make out everything that is being said without subs. Can anyone confirm/deny this?

I caught this at the cinema last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I'm English, terribly southern, and didn't struggle at all. Having said that, it's worth saying that a company I used to work for had a call centre in Glasgow, which I used to liaise with daily by phone. Even so, I don't think it was that difficult (and neither did the others I saw it with).

Rather than the accents, my strongest memory of TAS was the wonderfully gratuitous swearing. I found this highly amusing as my local indi' theatre is mostly populated by retirees. Might not sound like the best of audiences but they're respectful of the Kermodian Rules, and you can buy booze there as well. They also gave me my most memorable cinema experiences when, following the steel dildo scene from TGWTDT, someone passed out and had to be carried out by ambulance staff. Keen to make sure no one had missed anything, the projectionist reset the film by a good 10 minutes, meaning everyone had to sit through the entire scene all over again. Hilarious!

N.b. the woman was conscious and, I'm assuming, fine. Wouldn't have been such a funny memory if they'd been paddle-charging her heart as they wheeled her out to the ambulance...

IMO, Knowing was a dreadfully made film. The initial premise may have been promising (before it went bat shit crazy), but the execution was laughably poor, and I'm not just referring to Cage's acting.

The plane crash scene is one of the worst ever committed to celluloid. If you witness a plane crash where the entire plane is obliterated, you wouldn't see dozens of people running around with their shirts on fire screaming, but otherwise undamaged as they flee the wreckage. Utterly, utterly woeful. Ed Wood could've handled that better.

"I appreciate them technically and enjoy the experience and the craft but that said, neither of them would I go out of my way to rewatch."

Funny you should say that but, having been blown away by Hurt Locker in the cinema, I watched it again on DVD and found it an underwhelming experience. Some films are one time only affairs really. That doesn't make them any less good, of course, but it's a shame when you love a film so much on first viewing that you can't recapture that enjoyment on subsequent viewings.

I've never watched a film and never known what to make of it before. Even Donnie Darko made sense whilst watching it, on most levels.

Part of me wants to shoot the film down for the horrible acting in parts, unintelligible dialogue, unoriginal content within scenes, a massively fluctuating tone throughout, irrelevant storylines, Hugo Weaving practically re-quoting Agent Smith lines, and a fairly simple story made almost impossible to follow by horrible editing and storytelling.

Not to mention the amount of characters; Is that Hugo Weaving in drag? Why is he in drag? Is that the older version of this character... or a version of the character in a parallel universe?... or another character altogether?... or are they simply re-using that actor for convenience. Should I have to be asking myself so many questions to simply follow a storyline in a film?

Another part of me actually enjoyed the film for what it was. The film creates almost inescapable intrigue whilst watching, a sense of escapism, has great cinematography, some great characters, and some very memorable scenes. This, for me, is what films should be about.

I think I need to watch it again, but then should I have to? Should some films need to be watched twice?... Is this a failing of the film? Is the fact it's a hard film to follow a failing in the audience or the director? I've always stuck to the philosophy that it's always the fault of the director, but in this case I can't help but think it was the director's sole intention to confuse.

God, I love this film. Must have watched it 5 times since buying the bluray box set over Christmas. It's just such a well-constructed piece of film making that you could almost be watching a biopic. Bane doesn't rise to the dizzy heights of Ledger's Joker but I'll forgive it because quite honestly, how could he? Selina Kyle was clearly in there as a bit of bloated fan service and could have been written out, but the inclusion of Robin was intelligent, unforced and a brilliant portrayal of the "Everyman" hero that Bruce Wayne wanted to inspire Gotham citizens to be.

But then there's the ending. That fucking ending. I tell people of my hatred for the ending and they say "it wasn't that bad" and I say "Bruce Wayne, one of the most recognisable billionaires on the planet, fakes his death and moves to Europe with Cat Woman". It's just so fucking daft and stands out like a sore thumb compared to the rest. Handing his home over to the orphans? No problem. Robin taking up the mantle of Gotham's hero (so long as the Justice League movie exists outside Nolan's Batman universe)? Fine.

But they should have flat out killed Bruce Wayne - it was the end of his story, and he would then have given the people of Gotham everything.

Slightly overlong, the ending drags a bit and seems to actually end several times before going back and doing another somewhat unnecessary action sequence, but it's still great. Christoph Waltz once again steals the film completely (totally overshadowing DiCaprio's bad guy turn), and it's a much meatier role than Inglourious. And despite the topic matter and overall content, it's one of Tarantino's funniest films. There's a sequence with Jonah Hill that wouldn't be out of place in Blazing Saddles.

Apparently too long with a boring first 35 or so minutes but this entertained me and at no point did I feel bored at all. I haven't read the book and this did feel like Lord of the Rings lite but this exceeded my, admittedly low, expectations.

Django Unchained - didn't finish/10

Could only take about 60 minutes of this pish. Tarantino at his indulgent worst. Overly long, overwritten and in fact badly written dialogue, which is unusual for Tarantino. Maybe things pick up later in the movie but I was having a miserable time watching this so decided to quit early and watch...

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - 4/10

I didn't quite get to the end of this and started to potter around on the internet whilst it was on but made sure to pay attention when something loud happened. I found this rather boring with no real narrative to speak of. The bits about Lincoln being the politician were more interesting than the bits about vampire hunting and the head vampire dude came to a rather unceremonious end at which point I stopped watching.

Apparently too long with a boring first 35 or so minutes but this entertained me and at no point did I feel bored at all. I haven't read the book and this did feel like Lord of the Rings lite but this exceeded my, admittedly low, expectations.

Django Unchained - didn't finish/10

Could only take about 60 minutes of this pish. Tarantino at his indulgent worst. Overly long, overwritten and in fact badly written dialogue, which is unusual for Tarantino. Maybe things pick up later in the movie but I was having a miserable time watching this so decided to quit early and watch...

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - 4/10

I didn't quite get to the end of this and started to potter around on the internet whilst it was on but made sure to pay attention when something loud happened. I found this rather boring with no real narrative to speak of. The bits about Lincoln being the politician were more interesting than the bits about vampire hunting and the head vampire dude came to a rather unceremonious end at which point I stopped watching.

Watched this last night without any preconceptions as had no idea who Brandon Lee was or that he died while filming. Enjoyed the film although some bits were far too much cheese and couldn't take the lead seriously wearing a girls boobtube

7/10

Don’t kid yourself, Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance, he’d eat you and everyone you care about!